Hey, ive been reading up on tons of different causes, effects, treatments, etc etc etc of ADD over the last few days. Scientific study results, health sites, drug explanatory sites, all of it.

my research has brought me to the conclusion that ADD is mostly due to neurotransmitters, especially dopamine and serotonin, not being properly transferred from one cell to the next, meaning medication is needed to either produce more of these neurotransmitters or inhibit the uptake of them (meaning it makes it try again and again till they go thru instead of trashing & recycling them, i think).

dopamine makes you active, can give you a happier mood, and increases cognitive abilities, memory, attention, and etc. it can be increased by a wide variety of stimulants, like your normal prescribed add/adhd meds, but also everyday things like caffeine, and even "dopamine supplements" which have not been well studied BUT have great reviews on amazon from ppl with Add & adhd, and i bought a bottle of L-tyrosine to try in conjunction with my add meds as a hopeful substitute for caffeine (which makes me extremely hostile when i also take my current meds) and so far it's actually working pretty great.

however, most add meds besides ritalin (and similar ones) only increase dopamine levels, not serotonin. ritalin however does increase serotonin, but that wasnt even known by anybody until recent years.

serotonin has not been studied THAT much in conjunction with ADD, but it is known that ppl with ADD have a very low amount of it. and, it is known to be a neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood, sleep as well as a bunch else. having more serotonin can apparently make u able to fall asleep if you have insomnia, and can help diminish anger, rage and impulsive stuff. it can even lower anxiety and other mood-related issues.

many sites and studies say the key to succesful add treatment is a careful balance between dopamine & serotonin levels.

it seems to me that each add patient has different levels and resistances to dopamine & serotonin, so expirementation of dosages of each one is apparently needed.

now to the point of this post: has anybody here had any experience with trying serotonin supplements to help regulate their add?

i will try it and try to remember to report my findings here. first, i will try it as a sleeping aid, because lots of ppl say it helps with that. if that works well, then i will try taking a small dose in the day to see if it helps with my overflow of tics i get from taking all stimulants.

the two types of them i will try is L-trytophan for sleep, because it only increases serotonin. the other will be SAM-e for daytime, which increases not only serotonin, but also dopamine and surprisingly enough even other neurotransmitters that ppl w add are low on, which makes it extremely surprising to me that it hasnt been tested for its effects on add. theres one more supplement type called 5-HTP, but DO NOT use it because long term use, like even only in a month time, could forever introduce terrible problems.

note: DO NOT take serotonin supplements if you are already taking SSRI antidepressant meds such as prozac, because they already produce a lot of serotonin and the two together can create serious problems, such as serotonin syndrome. ALWAYS research possible interactions between your current meds and ones you wish to take before getting them.